Exercise mat apparatus and method
The exercise mat system includes an exercise mat consisting of an upper surface with visual markers. The relative positioning of the visual markers correlates to a user's body parts and the distances between the user's body parts. The visual markers accommodate various body shapes and sizes and also accommodate the body changes experienced by a user. The visual markers are represented in different forms, positive space, and negative space so that the user's brain engages the marker's differently depending on which way the user orients his or her body on the mat. The visual markers also serve as measurement device for tracking progress. The symmetry of the mat enables a user to compare and contract movements on each side of his or her body while visually seeing the differences through the relative reference points.
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The field relates to exercise mats. Specifically, the exercise mat detailed provides visual reference points to assist the user in finding, learning, and refining their form, improving the consistency of form, and thereby increasing overall efficiency of expended effort and results.
2. Description of the Related ArtPhysical therapy is a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialty that, by using mechanical force and movements remediates impairments and promotes mobility, function, and quality of life through examination, diagnosis, prognosis, and physical intervention. Physical therapy management commonly includes the prescription of specific exercises. Additionally, physical therapy works with individuals to prevent the loss of mobility before it occurs by developing fitness and wellness oriented programs for healthier and more active lifestyles.
Conventional exercise mats and fitness center flooring do not provide indications or guidelines for body and limb placement to both teach and achieve proper form and alignment during rehabilitation exercises prescribed in physical therapy, dynamic strength and flexibility development exercises used in wellness routines, and specific exercise styles including yoga, Pilates and martial arts. When done improperly or sub-optimally, exercise reduces the potential results achieved and also increases the risk of injury. What is needed is an exercise mat that improves the alignment and awareness of the user's body and reduces the risk of injury.
SUMMARY OF INVENTIONAn exercise mat system can be utilized across modalities of development, wellness and rehabilitation for the purpose of learning optimal alignment for the individual user. The visual markings on the inventive exercise mat enables teachers to facilitate alignment and form education and corrections across students of varying body types and abilities. The user's can learn by seeing their individual alignment reference points. This visual alignment can repeated until the properly aligned exercise is felt internally in the user's body.
In an embodiment, the exercise mat can have a rectangular shape defined by a left edge, a right edge, a front edge and a rear edge. In an embodiment, the visual markings on the mat can include a plurality of longitudinal lines aligned with the length and a plurality of latitudinal lines aligned with the width of the mat. The mat can also include a plurality of visual line markings that are 45 degrees relative to the edges of the mat. In an embodiment, the visual markings can include a plurality of lines and a plurality of parallelogram shapes. The parallelograms can have two 45 degree angles and two 135 degree angles.
The user can perform exercises on the exercise mat in alignment with any of the four edges. By training in all four directions on the mat, the user engages their brain to check against the varying reference point representations.
The disclosure that follows is for an exercise mat with includes a visual alignment system with reference points in various representations to engage the brain as the user learns to see their alignment until they learn to feel it internally. The design enables the user to train in all four directions on the mat to keep the brain and body engaged during the learning process.
In an embodiment, the top portion 115 of the mat 100 utilizes positive space (ink printed) visual markers, the mid-section 117 of the mat 100 introduces negative space visual markers, and the bottom portion 119 of the mat 100 requires the user to interpolate and infer the visual markers.
The visual markers enable a user to adjust to different markers as his/her body changes over time. Additionally, the design enables persons of different sizes and body abilities to find what is appropriate for his/her specific structure rather than being constrained by a limited set of points that may or may not work for the specific individual using it.
In the description above and throughout, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of an embodiment of this disclosure. It will be evident, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art, that an embodiment may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to facilitate explanation. The description of the preferred embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto. Further, in the methods disclosed herein, various steps are disclosed illustrating some of the functions of an embodiment. These steps are merely examples, and are not meant to be limiting in any way. Other steps and functions may be contemplated without departing from this disclosure or the scope of an embodiment.
Claims
1. An exercise mat for alignment of a user, comprising:
- a top surface of the exercise mat having an alignment system that including a plurality of length line markings aligned with a length of the exercise mat adapted for alignment with a left foot of the user, a plurality of width line markings aligned with a width of the exercise mat on a front side of the exercise mat and adapted for alignment with toes of the left foot of the user, and a plurality of parallelogram markings adapted for alignment with a right foot of the user;
- wherein the parallelogram markings include two 45 degree corners and two 135 degree corners, the parallelogram markings form mirrored rows of parallelograms that are symmetric between the left side and a right side of the exercise mat, the parallelogram markings are asymmetric between the front side and a rear side of the exercise mat, the parallelogram markings form a graphical image of a scorpion that includes legs, a body and a tail, a first group of stacked parallelograms that extend along a center line of the length of the mat form the body and the tail, a second group of stacked parallelograms extend across the width of the mat form the legs and the body.
2. The exercise mat of claim 1 wherein the first group of stacked parallelograms markings include six adjacent parallelogram markings and the second group of stacked parallelograms markings include nine adjacent parallelogram markings.
3. The exercise mat of claim 1 wherein the plurality of width line markings are adjacent to the front side of the exercise mat.
4. The exercise mat of claim 1 wherein the plurality of length line markings do not extend across the entire length from the top side to the bottom side of the exercise mat.
5. The exercise mat of claim 1 wherein the plurality of the parallelogram markings are adjacent to each other.
6. The exercise mat of claim 5 wherein some of the plurality of the parallelogram markings extend across the width from the left side to the right side of the exercise mat.
7. The exercise mat of claim 1 further comprising:
- a plurality of reference points that are adapted to correlate to positions of a user's body parts.
8. An exercise mat for alignment of a user, comprising:
- a top surface of the exercise mat having an alignment system that including a plurality of length line markings aligned with a length of the exercise mat adapted for alignment with a left foot of the user, a plurality of width line markings aligned with a width of the exercise mat on a front side of the exercise mat and adapted for alignment with toes of the left foot of the user, and a plurality of parallelogram markings include two 45 degree corners and two 135 degree corners, and the parallelogram markings are asymmetric between a front side and a rear side of the exercise mat;
- wherein a group of adjacent parallelograms extend across the width of the exercise mat on the rear side of the mat for adapted alignment with a right foot of the user and the group of adjacent parallelograms do not extend across the width of the exercise mat on the front side of the mat opposite the rear side of the mat, the parallelogram markings are symmetric between the left side and a right side of the exercise mat, the parallelogram markings are asymmetric between the front side and a rear side of the exercise mat, the parallelogram markings form a graphical image of a scorpion that includes legs, a body and a tail, a first group of stacked parallelograms that extend along a center line of the length of the mat form the body and the tail, a second group of stacked parallelograms extend across the width of the mat form the legs and the body.
9. The exercise mat of claim 8 further comprising:
- a graphical image formed from the plurality of parallelograms, wherein the graphical image is aligned with a center line along the length of the exercise mat and symmetric between a right side and a left side of the exercise mat.
10. The exercise mat of claim 9 wherein the graphical image is a scorpion that includes eye, claws, legs, and a body that are on a rear side of the mat and a tail that is on a front side of the mat.
11. The exercise mat of claim 9 further comprising:
- a plurality of reference points that are adapted to correlate to positions of a user's body parts.
12. An exercise mat system for alignment of a user, comprising:
- a foam material having a rectangular shape with a left side, a right side, a rear side and a front side;
- a top surface of the exercise mat having an alignment system that including a plurality of length line markings aligned with a length of the exercise mat adapted for alignment with a left foot of the user, a plurality of width line markings aligned with a width of the exercise mat on a front side of the exercise mat and adapted for alignment with toes of the left foot of the user, and a plurality of parallelogram markings include two 45 degree corners and two 135 degree corners, and the parallelogram markings are asymmetric between a front side and a rear side of the exercise mat;
- wherein a group of adjacent parallelograms extend across the width of the exercise mat on the rear side of the mat for adapted alignment with a right foot of the user and the group of adjacent parallelograms do not extend across the width of the exercise mat on the front side of the mat opposite the rear side of the mat, the parallelogram markings are symmetric between the left side and a right side of the exercise mat, the parallelogram markings are asymmetric between the front side and a rear side of the exercise mat, the parallelogram markings form a graphical image of a scorpion that includes legs, a body and a tail, a first group of stacked parallelograms that extend along a center line of the length of the mat form the body and the tail, a second group of stacked parallelograms extend across the width of the mat form the legs and the body.
13. The exercise mat of claim 12 wherein the plurality first group of stacked parallelograms markings include six adjacent parallelogram markings and the second group of stacked parallelograms markings include nine adjacent parallelogram markings.
14. The exercise mat of claim 12 wherein the plurality of width line markings are adjacent to the front side of the exercise mat.
15. The exercise mat of claim 12 wherein the plurality of length line markings do not extend across the entire length from the top side to the bottom side of the exercise mat.
16. The exercise mat of claim 12 further comprising:
- a plurality of reference points that are adapted to correlate to positions of a user's body parts.
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Type: Grant
Filed: May 15, 2017
Date of Patent: Sep 29, 2020
Patent Publication Number: 20180326253
Assignee: AG ADVISORY GROUP, LLC (Philadelphia, PA)
Inventors: Gina-Marie DeRaimo (Philadelphia, PA), Alexandra Szakats (New York, NY)
Primary Examiner: Garrett K Atkinson
Application Number: 15/594,726
International Classification: A63B 21/00 (20060101); A63B 71/06 (20060101);